Grayson: The Sidekick Story 2 - Comeback Season
by Nitewing1987
Summary: After dedicating a year of training to become a better crime fighter, Robin rejoins Batman to battle against Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, and other criminals in Gotham. The adventures largely draw off stories from Batman: The Animated Series. The story is told from Robin's perspective at a time when he has some experience under his belt but still much to learn.
1. Comeback Season

**COMEBACK SEASON**

One of the criminals that really troubled the police was Victor Szasz. He was a psychopath serial killer that savored slitting throats so much, some would say he was addicted to it. He had no interest in wealth or power; he simply enjoyed taking lives using his knife. He was a bald guy of average height, crazy eyes, and tally marks all over his body. Initially, I thought they were tattoos but Batman informed me that he would heat up his knife and brand himself with the tally marks. Each mark stood for a person that he killed. His preference was to abduct a person and take his time running his mouth to them about all his bizarre philosophies for a few days before ending their life. Afterwards, he would leave the body somewhere on a random sidewalk in the city. The type of person made no difference to him, his obsession was quantity. He had up to 15 known victims to the list and based on an account of the one person that escaped him, his tally marks indicated he probably had about 40 total.

We didn't have any real leads so Batman put together a makeshift plan of action.

"Robinson Park makes the most sense for Victor to find victims. At night there aren't many people nearby but you will often find a person or two that stays out pretty late. So far his recent victims have been abducted in Old Gotham, Burnley, East End, and Otisburg but he likes to move around and he will get to that area eventually. Diamond District is lighted too well and he would stick out too much in Chinatown. Let's set up some camera's to monitor it in real time and also sweep the area once a night."

It became the most boring job ever for me. Night after night I would sweep through but saw no signs of Victor. Batman encouraged me to stay on it because he deemed it the best prediction. Even though the other victims were found elsewhere he strongly felt that this was the best option to get ahead of Victor instead of behind.

24 days after the latest murder, I saw someone in a hoodie walking closely behind another man leading him towards the Arkham Lake. I used my binoculars to get a better look and confirmed the man behind had a knife against the other guys back. I alerted Batman immediately; it appeared that they were heading for a canoe and going to cross the lake. If I let them get in the water it would be impossible to pursue them without them noticing me.

"Batman, it looks like they are going to a canoe and will cross Arkham Lake towards Tricorner Island." Tricorner Island was a decommissioned naval yard.

"I know you want to be here for this but I'm going after him now. I don't want to risk losing him, that man's life is at risk."

"I don't like it, but I see your point. Just remember, don't rush this. Victor is not a martial artist but knows how to kill. He may have some extra knives on him so watch out for that too. Quickly engage but be patient afterwards. Good luck."

"I'll be fine. I got this. Robin out."

I tried to move as quickly and quietly as possible. I didn't want to run towards him head on in case he panics and kills his hostage so I had to take a circular route to get behind him. My batarang aim had improved immensely and I knew I could get a square hit from further away then I use to be able to. I took my time, concentrated and flung the batarang directly for the back of Victor's head causing him to fall on his face. I sprinted at Victor hoping I can reach him before he had time to recover. While still getting up he reached into his boot, took a look over his shoulder to me and flung a knife heading directly for my stomach. I jumped as high as I could to dive over it. I banged my left elbow and right knee pretty good but had too much adrenaline to notice it. This gave Victor the time he needed to grab the initial knife he had dropped when I surprised him with the batarang. I sprung back up as he approached me holding the knife in his right hand. I thought a little bit about Batman's training regarding fighting people with a knife. Dodging attacks is preferred but if I have to block an attack I have to focus on contacting the wrist and not the hand to keep the knife away. Also, seizing the opportunity to grab the wrist and putting them in a quick submission that does not allow them to use the knife or forces them to let go.

I let him thrust and swipe at me while I did my best Muhammad Ali impression moving my feet and body to avoid each attack. I threw some punches and kicks to keep him off balance and frustrate him quicker. Soon he started to tire and his attacks were getting slower. I telegraphed a straight thrust towards my chest. I used my left hand to grab his wrist and direct the thrust to my right while simultaneously stepping to my left. I performed a quick spin and elbowed Victor in the temple with my right arm while still holding onto his wrist with my left. Then I put his arm in an arm bar submission. He screamed and screamed but there was no way I was breaking my hold.

"Batman, I got him."

"Good work, don't let up or get complacent Robin, he's still dangerous. Gordon and Detective Montoya are headed your direction so don't be alarmed by the cop car. They won't give you any trouble."

As I tied him up I started thinking about my journey to get back into the costume. I wondered if this is what it felt like to be an athlete recovering from a serious injury. I had been out of the vigilante game for a full year and it felt good but nerve wrecking to be back in the field. I took a deep breath as I waited for the police and started to think deeper about the previous year.

My first year as Robin was tough. Batman and I battled against Black Mask's eight assassins which left me physically and emotionally drained. Bruce and I got the job done but the fights I had with Copperhead and Deathstroke left me bruised and scarred. Bruce decided to take me off active field duty and keep me on the sidelines for a while. Initially, I figured it was just for a short recovery but it turned out it was much deeper than that. Bruce reminded me that he had trained seven years before his debut as Batman and despite the fact I had progressed well, I was far from the human weapon I could become. There was a lot I could learn on the job, but he felt strongly my growth would be limited if I didn't master the basics and build a better foundation for myself as a complete crime fighter.

First off, my 16 year old body was still outmatched by the grown men I was battling. Batman was able to lay a decisive strike and flow from one enemy to the next so fluidly and I simply didn't have the power to knock someone out like he could. I needed to maintain a consistent weight training program to strengthen all my muscles and that meant no more long nights out in the streets. My schedule became jam packed with sessions on weight training, gymnastics, running, and parkour. Being sore and exhausted everyday was brutal but I certainly noticed my body changing and felt more invincible than ever as each month passed by.

My second biggest deficiency was that I only used the high-tech gadgets on a basic level. Batman conserved much more energy than me by letting his gadgets do half the battle for him. Also, if he can see many of the assailants in an area he was scoping from a distance, he would plan his whole attack out and what items he would use when. When he had a good opportunity to game plan, it was a work of art. Sometimes he placed timed smoke bombs in the last part of the area he was going to attack and the exact moment he got there, the smoke bomb goes off. I also envied his creativity and misdirection. Sometimes Bruce would throw smoke bombs or batarangs in the opposite corner of his position causing all the adversaries to turn away from him so he can move around to beneficial hiding spots. I needed to experiment and study the full abilities of the gadgets and allow them to become a true extension of my abilities instead of just tools to use in emergencies.

The next focus was my core fighting technique. On the occasion I actually faced adversaries that knew martial arts, it was a struggle. I excelled in using capoeira but still viewed hand to hand combat as an area I could get exposed on. Bruce suggested that we work more with weapons and see if I have a natural affinity for any. After doing some light training with a collapsible bo staff I took a liking to it. We had staff matches and I excelled in it well so Batman suggested I carry one with me permanently. Alfred customized my Robin suit to hold the staff on my back hidden under the cape. The grapple gun was the only piece of equipment too big for the utility belt so Batman and I had it attached to our backs but Alfred found a way to fit the staff as well. In its collapsed form the staff was 1 foot in length and extended to 4 feet. This was shorter than typical but more suitable for me. I needed it to be small enough that I didn't notice it while moving around and my 5'4 body height had limited back space. The training staffs Batman had were about 2 feet when collapsed and 6 feet when extended and I found the shorter one to be more difficult to handle at first since I had to be more precise with my hand placement but once I got the hang of it, I preferred the smaller staff.

My favorite training was developing my motorcycle skills. Batman had given me a crash course on riding the motorcycle I named the Redwing, but now laid out specific tasks for me to master. The first technique was practicing riding at very slow speeds to help blend in with traffic when needed. The technique requires easing up on the clutch lever just enough to ride it at the friction zone so the rear wheel is getting just enough power to keep going but not too much to speed up. After I got down that control better I was able to move on to making sharp turns from a stop. It's seems simple to do but it did take some practice to be able to make hard turns smoothly due to the actual dynamics of riding a motorcycle. Afterwards I moved on to high-speed breaking, push steering, and learning how to relax more while driving. When I was done Bruce allowed me to take the driving test for cars and motorcycles so I can get an official driver's license. Then the lessons moved into speeding through the city and losing a vehicle that's giving chase. Bruce even signed me up to do some dirt bike racing as well to give me some different experiences.

The time off to dedicate to training was certainly beneficial but I was itching to get back. However, the required achievements that Bruce set for me to rejoin him were a big leap from where I was at the time. I had no idea how long it would take me but I was determined to keep training until I reached it. While I was sidelined, Batman was getting acquainted with his most notorious nemesis.

It took me most of the year before I reached Batman's set goals for my training. During that time he let me go out on some low level cases, but mainly my life was consumed with training and studying. It was frustrating but needed. I could feel that I was on a whole new level. My strength, endurance, skills, and toughness had drastically improved over the course of the year and the new rogues of Gotham were in for a surprise.

After Montoya apprehended Victor she became overjoyed and gave me a quick hug and thanked me greatly. She left me her card and assured me that I can call her if I ever needed anything. I left and it was all over the news that after a year of absence Batman's sidekick Robin took down serial killer Victor Szasz by himself. It felt good to be back. It was official; my comeback season was under way.


	2. Just For a Laugh

**JUST FOR A LAUGH**

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Laughing gas was released in the Gotham Courthouse, it's got to be the work of the Joker," Bruce answered.

The year before while working on the Black Mask case we came across the infamous Joker. We investigated a Black Mask safe house and discovered two people had been murdered and one taken away. We found the surviving victim tied up in the steel mill. Due to the nature of the murders we knew early on that the Joker was the sadistic type but figured his fury was directed only towards Black Mask.

At that point our trail went cold on the Joker and our efforts were focused on Black Mask so pursuing Joker had dropped in priority. Black Mask, real name Roman Sionis, was the most hated man in Gotham and just because someone had a vendetta against him gave no indication that they were going to be a threat to the more general public. Once the assassins were defeated and Roman was sent to Blackgate Prison, Joker came out of hiding earning the nickname "The Clown Prince of Crime."

In his first heist, he robbed a bank for $68 million and managed to evade the cops and Batman. During the heist, he even murdered some of his own henchmen which was bizarre even for Gotham criminals.

The heist was all over the news often posing the question, "Has Batman met his match?" due to Bruce's failed attempt to apprehend him. During the heist, it was only reported that all the assailants were wearing clown masks but this time the Joker was revealed as having full clown makeup. He had white face, green hair, red lips, and the most devious smile and laugh I had ever seen. The image of his face motivated me even more for the training. He seemed impossible to really prepare for or reason with.

The heist was so peculiar a multitude of opinions came out. Some were highly disturbed that this type of insanity could occur in Gotham and felt our city would only descend into more chaos. The more optimistic citizens concluded that since he will kill his own cohorts, no criminal would ever work with him again eliminating his ability to repeat anything like this again. Others figured that he would be a one heist wonder. He just made off with $68 million, why would he ever need to steal or commit a crime again? With that much money most criminals would have laid low but not this one.

It was even worse than many had predicted. For a full year, he caused havoc for the criminal underworld, police, and Batman on levels the city had never seen. It was frustrating not being able to join Bruce during this time as he battled against our new rival. I took a lot of pride in being Robin and often felt I could be of help. However, he and Alfred continued to convince me that this was best for me. I remained sidelined and continued to work hard so I could rejoin him.

"You've made much progress Dick, but it would be a disservice to you to delay your training and put you out there before you are truly ready. Your time will come but for now, this fight is mine," Bruce would say to me. Many small gangs developed and battled over turf all over Gotham; however, the Batman versus Joker rivalry became the talk of the town and I wanted to do my part to end it.

Despite him killing off his crew in the first heist, The Joker still always had henchmen. We weren't sure if he threatened people to join him or if it was done willingly. What was apparent was that Joker continued to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. His reputation to pull off big stunts and evade Batman left a very sore spot on us. We had been challenged by others before, but never mocked and laughed at like this guy was doing.

He continuously concocted plots to terrorize the city and each time Batman did whatever he could to thwart it but could never capture him. Joker was unlike anything we ever faced before. He had no fear of Batman and seemed to always have fun even when his plans failed. I remember those early discussions between Bruce and Alfred regarding him.

"I just need to figure out what he wants and maybe I can get an edge on him," Bruce said. Alfred proceeded to tell a story about an area where the villagers didn't assign a monetary value for gemstones they found in the village and how they couldn't understand why the outsiders were pillaging their community for them. He went on to explain how their mentalities were so different they couldn't find a fundamental logical connection.

Alfred concluded with, "Truthfully sir, I don't think he wants anything in particular. He simply just enjoys watching the world burn." After watching Batman deal with this lunatic for a year I didn't know exactly what to expect during my comeback season. All I knew was that this villain was prepared for war.

After the courtroom laughing gas bomb, bombs went off in police stations, hospitals, and office buildings causing all sorts of disruption in Gotham. No casualties were recorded but many injuries came out of areas that were hit with laughing gas bombs. Also, infected nurses and doctors in hospitals were unable to treat patients.

Determined to catch the next bomb attempt we conversed with Gordon and Montoya on the GCPD rooftop.

"My team will be taking turns monitoring the streets all night to find the next bomb. From the video surveillance, the culprits managed to keep their faces hidden and are impossible to identify. However, the next time we see suspicious activity we will alert you immediately," Gordon said to Batman.

"Looks like we will have to split up to cover more ground," I said to Batman.

"Agreed, I'll take the Batwing and I want you on the rooftops," he responded.

The next day we had a few false alarms from the police but eventually it paid off as we found three people breaking into the Von Gruenwald Tower in the Burnley district.

"Robin, meet me at the designated location. Take the motorcycle, I'll be waiting there in the Batwing. They shouldn't be too much of a threat but when it comes to the Joker it is always good to have backup."

I sped over to the area.

"Robin, where are you now?"

"About 8 blocks away."

"I can't wait any longer, I'm going to go in after them."

"You don't need me to handle these guys, go ahead."

"It's not that. Usually I would make light work with scum like these and interrogate the hell out of them but I've found out that doesn't help with finding the Joker. He doesn't share much with his henchmen. I'm going to let them escape but I'm counting on you to track them. Here I go."

I was a bit disappointed with the plan but understood Batman's focus on the bigger goal to discover the Joker's whereabouts. It didn't take long before I saw the two culprits racing toward their car but they were still about a block away. Once I thought I was close enough, I hurled my tracker batarang with a magnet toward the car bumper but out of nowhere a semi crossed the intersection and I hit that instead. There were other cars behind the semi and I found myself unable to cross the intersection due to the traffic flow. I made a hard turn to go with the flow of traffic and cut in front a driver that honked like hell and flipped me off. Afterwards, I had to cross two more lanes causing a similar response before I could get to the sidewalk and head back to the initial street I was riding down.

Batman called in, "Were you able to get them?"

"Not yet, but I'm on it."

"I saw them turn left on Jefferson."

"Which one is Jefferson?"

"Four blocks down, it eventually leads to the 84"

I raced down the street continuing to weave through traffic and eventually spotted the silver mustang. I got in the fast lane and once I got close they veered into the exit. There was no way I was going to switch lanes quick enough to follow them without crashing into one of the other cars. I had a tight window but I had been practicing throws like this. I flung the batarang and was able to land it on the side of the car. It wasn't ideal because once they got out they could spot it but it was good enough for now.

"I got the tracker on Batman."

"Good work."

"I'll follow in Batwing, you catch back up to them on the motorcycle.

We followed them to an apartment in the Otisburg district.

"Well Robin, they must have been shook up by their encounter with me because they didn't spot the tracker and just rushed into their spot. I doubt we will get much more from them tonight."

"So now what?"

"Well, first off we need to get that tracker in a more hidden location. Preferably under the car. While you are down there let's get a receiver inside the car so we can listen in to their conversations. They aren't coming back out any time soon, no need to rush, you got all night."

"Okay, how do you want to…"

"You don't have to confirm with me how you are going to do it. Bypass the apartment parking lot security and get inside the car without causing an alarm. Supplies are in the Batwing. The rest is up to you, we don't need to go over options and details, just get it done. I got other business to tend to tonight. Call me if you have a real problem."

I did the task and got home super late. I was half asleep the whole next day at school and went to bed as soon as I got home. Usually I would do some type of training after school and then sleep for a few hours before it was time to go out on patrol. Then after our patrol I would sleep again before I had to go to school. It wasn't the ideal sleeping schedule but splitting my sleep was more convenient for me than trying to get it in all at once.

The next few days were a drag. I watched over the apartment to keep tabs on our culprits but they didn't leave the apartment. Eventually, one evening the car tracker finally moved and I drove down in street clothes to tail it. I watched them as they met with a tall guy that gave them some type of package. I didn't know for sure at the time but based on the size it certainly could have been another bomb.

"Batman, do you want me to pursue the new suspect?"

"Just get another tracker on his car. I don't want to spook them. I want them to operate like business as usual."

The tall suspect didn't travel far from their meetup location.

"What does it look like, Batman?"

"It looks like a lab, I bet this is where they are manufacturing the laughing gas. We should bust them but I want to keep observing to see if they lead us to the Joker."

Two weeks went by but no signs of the Joker were detected. Meanwhile our first two culprits brought a laughing gas bomb into a public city bus.

"That's it, we have to act now. Robin, you stop the gas bomb on the bus, I'll head back to the lab and see what I can get out of the people there.

The henchmen knew better than to release the gas while on the bus themselves so I drove the motorcycle to the next stop. As soon as the doors opened I was waiting for them in my full gear.

"Bus driver, get everybody off the bus," I warned him. "What's wrong fellas?" I asked the two puzzled henchmen as they stood in the doorway of the bus before getting out. They made a break for it, but I into one to knock him off his feet and then gave him a swift punch to the head to knock him out. I used the grapple gun to grab one by the ankle and trip him up before I tied him up. I quickly went back to the bus driver and all the occupants who were now standing outside in the cold frustrated. I explained the situation about the laughing gas and advised the driver to wait til the gas dispersed and for the occupants to catch the next bus. Then I put my gas mask on, and took the gas bomb off the bus and into a trash can.

"Mission accomplished here Bats, cops are on their way. How's it goin on your end?"

Instead of answering Batman just left the channel open to allow to hear his interrogation.

"Why would you work for such lunatic?!" Batman shouted at one of the perpetuators.

"Are you kidding me? Nobody pays like the Joker. You pull off one job with him, you are set for the next five years," he responded.

"So he wants the 'high risk high reward' crowd," I muttered.

Unfortunately, Batman wasn't able to get any leads on the whereabouts of the Joker but explained the victory we had accomplished today.

"They certainly have been making the laughing gas here. It's between a laboratory and a mini chemical plant in here. With this shut down I think we are putting a stop to these gas bombs for now but the Joker is still out there."

"Did you get any information about his plan for all these laughing gas bombs?"

"Well according to these henchmen, there really wasn't any major plans for a heist during these gas releases or murder… Joker just thinks it's funny."

"Do you believe them?"

"Actually, yeah."


	3. That Girl Is Poison

**THAT GIRL IS POISON**

A report came in that District Attorney Harvey Dent had been rushed to the hospital from the Rose Café. "Robin, I'm going to the hospital, I need you to investigate," Batman said. Once he said 'Robin' I knew I was going out in the field.

"Okay, so do you want me to go to the restaurant and look for clues or eaves drop on the info the cops are getting?"

"No, I have a better idea. Break into Harvey's office and find out who he was there with. He is extremely busy and organized, he must have it written or typed somewhere. We know he was there with a woman but don't know who she is. Not to mention, I find it too convenient that she left before he passed out. His date was behind this."

I knew I would first look at the walls for any calendar and if that didn't work I would go through the desk trying to find a note or planner. Cell phones weren't as advanced back then and most people didn't have one. Although Harvey did, they couldn't be used as a planner like today. I broke into his office in a hurry and tripped the alarm in the process. Usually I took being stealth seriously but I couldn't take my time in this case. We didn't know what Harvey had been poisoned with and how long he would be able to hold on. It was overwhelming at first. The district attorney had books, files, papers, and folders everywhere. Luckily it was well organized and labeled so it didn't take me too long to identify his planner. On today's date his last meeting was a date with Dr. Isley. I relayed the message to Alfred who was able to narrow it down to Pamela Isley the botanist. From what he dug up she worked at the Robinson Park botanical garden and also did research in plant disease and genetics. Soon after, Batman took the plane and jetted to her house in South Gotham. From what he described he chased her through her home garden. It contained booby traps but Batman was able to evade each one. After a struggle Batman eventually detained her but she still refused to tell what plant she used to poison Harvey. He choked her and hit her but she still didn't give in.

"Sir, we're running out of time," Alfred said on the radio.

Batman figured out that Pam's own life wasn't the most important thing to her so he switched his focus. "If you don't tell me what plant you used, I will burn your whole greenhouse to the ground and every piece of green you see on this property."

"No! How about this Bats? I'll tell you what the poison is but you have to let me go and promise not to follow or burn down the plants."

"No, way. I'm not letting a lunatic like you get away with murder."

"Either you bring me in for murder or let me get away with attempted murder."

Batman was hesitant to answer but Alfred pleaded with him to take her up on it.

"Fine."

Pamela explained her conditions, "I've heard about you and I know that plane can be controlled remotely. You get the plane out of my sight, take your crazy belt off with those things you throw, and let me get in my car and I'll tell you."

Batman gave in to her requests and Pamela held up her end of the bargain.

"It's called the 'Black Hellebore' you got that?"

"Yeah I got it."

"It's too bad things turned out this way Batman. You weren't the one I had a problem with."

I contacted Commissioner Gordon and informed him on what the plant was. I continued listening to the conversation between Bruce and Pam though.

"What did Harvey do that deserves poisoning?"

"Well murder of course."

"Harvey didn't murder anybody."

"Yes he did! He murdered the environment by destroying the ecosystem on Arkham Island to turn it into that dreadful Arkham Asylum! You all are monsters and have no respect for plant life! You can bury our way of life but our roots are strong and we always grow back!"

Once I heard that piece I understood her plight. After Black Mask's assassins caused such a ruckus in Gotham it was decided that a new facility be built to house these extreme criminals. I thought everybody was happy it was being built. Blackgate was becoming overcrowded and many citizens felt that these extreme criminals should be separated from some of the more mild ones in Blackgate. This brand new prison was going to pull out all the stops to make it the most advanced and secure facility in the country. District Attorney Harvey Dent brought it up in many speeches about cleaning up Gotham and Wayne Enterprise donated generously to the cause as well. However, the creation of Arkham Asylum cleared an extensive forest in the northwest side of Gotham referred to as Arkham Island which angered this plant freak. A handful of people protested the addition of Arkham Asylum to the city but I never could imagine someone being so disturbed by it that they would kill Harvey.

After she got emotional I could hear the tires burnout as she sped away. Harvey was treated appropriately and made a full recovery. He remained in good spirits and acted as if the whole ordeal didn't faze him but instead just made him stronger. The news had a hard time wrapping their head around the story. This woman had a doctorate and was making a six figure salary. Outside of her botany job at Robinson Park, she was well paid to perform her research and also had a partnership with a local company developing perfume based off certain plant scents. The way she carried herself appeared so normal that even her closest colleagues were in disbelief when she became a wanted criminal. The media gave her the nickname of Poison Ivy and her face was all over the news for a while. Despite this, there was no sighting of her and the case went cold. She completely failed the typical profile of a killer. A small, highly educated, rich woman from a middleclass background with no history of emotional or violence problems; no one would have ever expected her. Harvey made plenty of speeches about Gotham citizens losing hope and how we must be strong and overcome these 'villains.' It all sounded good but Harvey only painted the target on his back bigger.


	4. Mind Playin' Tricks on Me

**MIND PLAYING TRICKS ON ME**

During the Talia lovefest that Bruce was having he continued to work on his Penguin and Catwoman situation as well as the Joker as usual. I was watching a Gotham University football game and our quarterback had an unusual panic attack and had to leave. I was immediately reminded of a situation that occurred during the year before I had spent sidelined.

One night I felt the need to take myself off inactive duty without Bruce's approval. I was listening in on a case regarding damage and theft from Gotham University when I heard Bruce acting very bizarre.

"NOOOO! NOOOO!" I randomly heard Bruce on the radio crying out in a very uncharacteristic and disturbed voice.

"ALFRED, GET OVER HERE AND STAY ON THE RADIO! BATMAN'S IN TROUBLE I'M GOING AFTER HIM," I yelled. It had to be an emergency situation.

"Batman, what's going on?" Alfred asked on the radio but Bruce just kept crying out instead of giving a coherent response. I hopped on my motorcycle and rushed over to him as fast as possible. I found him in a classroom in the science department at Gotham University. He didn't seem injured or anything at all so I was perplexed on what he was going so crazy over. As I walked closer I noticed he was crying. Batman never shows any type of humanity or sad emotion while in costume but there were no clues to indicate what had happened.

"Batman what's wrong?" I asked.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he snapped at me causing me to jump back. Before I knew it he was throwing wild punches. His sloppy fighting was easy for me to dodge and once he started to slow down and get tired he seemed to come to his senses.

"Robin?" he said to me in a curious tone. Before I could respond or ask him anything he passed out. Afterwards I called the Batwing over and carried him inside of it. I explained what I witnessed to Alfred but he was as baffled as I was. Bruce was knocked out for about 12 hours before Alfred and I got a chance to ask him about what happened.

Bruce explained it to us, "This guy, he sprayed some type of vapor that made me hallucinate. I was back in Crime Alley watching my parents get murdered. Then my parents' murderer appeared and I was trying to beat him to a pulp. Then out of nowhere it's Robin there instead of him. I remember now, the guy that sprayed that vapor called himself the Scarecrow and dressed similar to one. The hallucinations were so strong though… I've never been so shaken up in my life."

We did some research, compared notes and came up with the conclusion that this new villain known as the Scarecrow must be Jonathan Crane. Dr. Crane was a psychology professor that was fired from Gotham University for engaging in reprehensible experiments. He would develop methods to induce fear and monitor the physical results. After receiving several complaints the university decided to let him go and now he was out for revenge. Bruce was clearly shaken up by the whole ordeal but did his best to hide it from me. I really wanted to join him but he insisted that he could handle it himself. Equipped with a gas mask, Batman monitored the University heavily and was able to thwart Scarecrow's next plan. However, Crane got away and decided to give up on his university revenge.

To prepare for Crane I started training with a gas mask as well. Of course, there is always the possibility that we run into him without expecting to. Batman would describe scenarios in which I had to tell him how I would apprehend Scarecrow without getting near him. He explained that if I inhale a high concentration instantly like he did then I'm done. However, if I remain about 20 feet away it could take about a minute for me to feel the effects and it would come more gradually or subtly. It depends on the duration of exposure, intensity of it, my body weight, how hard I'm breathing and some other factors based on Batman's analysis of the toxin Scarecrow used. It wasn't a lot to go off of but Bruce inhaled quite a bit and it could be detected in his breath. The equation to calculate the time it would take for a severe effect on my body wasn't anything complicated but I worked countless word problems until I could develop reasonable estimates. I felt confident that I would never let Scarecrow hit me with it but I humored Batman and his strong feelings about preparing for the worst. We didn't hear about the Scarecrow for quite some time and even considered that we may never see him again. We couldn't be more wrong. While watching this football game as stated earlier, I was convinced I had come across a Scarecrow lead and this time I was going to be able to get out and investigate myself.

Our quarterback for Gotham University had a panic attack and was taken out of the game. This bizarre occurrence was talked about all week by the fans. Most said the pressure got to him and that Vic Stone choked under pressure but it seemed peculiar to me. No reports came out stating he had a previous condition or that they found anything wrong with him. Batman doubted that there was some foul plot behind it but I decided to look into it further. I found a few similar cases of questionable cases of star players in various sports that had awful games and needed to be taken out of it. I decided to pay Vic Stone a visit to see what I could determine. I broke into his dorm by myself. As soon as he spotted me he lifted his hands up ready to fight.

"Relax Vic. I'm not here to here to steal anything or hurt you."

"Who are you? Wait, are you Robin?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want?"

"What happened to you during the game?"

"Don't tell me you are another fan to rub in how much I choked… that ain't cool bruh"

"Nah, its nothing like that. Is there any chance that you could have been drugged?"

"Drugged? I don't think so…"

"Cmon think. Is there anything that happened before the game that could have led to you inhaling a gas or drinking something that could have been drugged. Any out of the ordinary person that approached you or anything?"

"Look man, you may be right. But nothing sticks out. Nothing happened out of the ordinary. I have tons of fans and groupies so yeah I come into contact with plenty of people I don't know but there is nothing that I can think of. Maybe, I've always been naturally susceptible to panic attacks but it just didn't happen until now."

"Okay, before I head out though is it cool if I search your place for any clues? I won't make a mess or nothin."

"Something tells me your type will just come back and search it when I'm not here anyway," Vic said to me with a smirk.

"Yeah, you right," I responded and smiled back.

I looked all around checking everything I could think of but found nothing noteworthy. As I was about to leave the vent for the heat switched and it immediately hit me.

"Can you help me move the desk so I can stand on it and get to the vent real quick?" I asked.

"I can just lift you up bro, you light."

After Vic put me on his shoulders I opened up the vent and found a strange looking device that looked like a high tech metal cigar. There was no smell or visible gas emanating from it so I assumed it had run out of whatever it was releasing.

"Looks like I found what I'm looking for Vic."

"Holy crap, you're right. Someone did do something to me," Vic said in disbelief.

"I'll get to the bottom of this," I said while climbing out the window.

I returned to the Batcave and explained my findings to Batman. He analyzed the device and came to the conclusion that this gas was certainly different that the original fear toxin he encountered. Batman deduced that the most likely scheme Scarecrow was pulling was gambling on sports game and then using his toxin to fix the game by messing with the opposing team's star player. Batman made plans to confront bookies until he got a lead but it would have to wait until a later day. I went to bed feeling proud of myself and bringing us closer to solving the Scarecrow case.

The next night there was a break-in at the Winston apartments. The police surrounded the area with the perpetuators still in the building. The situation didn't seem too daunting but Batman wanted us to handle it to make sure there were no casualties. The GCPD had a reputation of shooting first and determining what was going on later. While grappling up the building, my body started to shaking and I switched the grappling gun from retract to suspension. I didn't want to go any higher but afterward was too frozen to reverse it and let myself be lowered back to the ground. For the first time in my life I was consumed in a fear of heights and yelled out to Batman for help. He was much higher than I and initially just stopped and looked at me puzzled. Then he lowered himself to grab me and even he held out his hand but I was too scared to let go of the grappling gun and grab him. My body was shaking uncontrollably and I clinged onto the grapple gun tighter than I ever had before.

"Robin! Get a hold of yourself!"

"I can't Batman! I don't know what's wrong with me!"

He grabbed me and lowered us down. Even afterward he could tell I was still shaking and in no condition to fight crime. He told Gordon that something came up and the GCPD was on their own tonight.

During the drive back he asked me questions as I remained in a fragile broken state.

"Robin, what happened?"

"The building just seemed so high and then I realized how high I was and I just couldn't handle it."

"It must be the Scarecrow toxin, but how come it didn't occur until now? You had to descend from the dorm after you were in Rogers room. How high was Rogers dorm?"

"About seven stories."

"Hmmph. Even afterward we have scaled a few buildings so how come this fear of heights didn't strike you then?"

"I don't know… I can't believe this I could have got killed out there… plus if it kicked in later when we came across the perpetuators I could have got both of us killed..

"Don't think about that right now Robin. Let's put this behind us for now."

By the time we came home Batman gave his final theory. "Possibly this toxin has a delayed reaction but in each case you told me about, the panic attack didn't occur until these athletes were in a tough moment. This toxin is somehow triggered by an increase in heart rate or adrenaline. You are going to have to sit out until it's gone."

This really hurt my psyche. I had put in work for a solid year to get back into the field and didn't want to spend any more time on the sidelines. Alfred talked to me about not allowing this latest setback to cause me to lose confidence in myself. He provided some stories about Bruce's first struggles in the vigilante world and emphasized that there was no way I could have seen this coming. I went out the next day just to grapple up high buildings and swing through the city. I wanted to conquer that fear but it wasn't a real fear to me. I took it slow and gradual at first but found out quick that I was completely fine. How could I have such an intense panic attack the day before doing the same thing? I talked to Bruce about it when he got home and he concluded that I'm still too relaxed to trigger the toxin myself. Even when I build up my heart rate there was no effect. I have to be in a truly high pressure moment. Batman continued to confront bookies for the next few days until he finally came across a lead. A bookie sent in his bodyguard to question someone that had been winning all his bets. The bodyguard was later found in the police infirmary paranoid about a scarecrow. It was apparent he had been infected with the more immediate solution Scarecrow used in the very first encounter.

"Dick, just give it time it's bound to ware off. I can handle this alone."

"No, I've got to fight it. I can't let this hold me back."

"Fine. But the first sign of it and you need to sit the rest out and take it easy. Don't force anything. Just be my extra set of eyes. I traced the false name Professor Crane has been using and the bookies informed me that he bet the hometown team would win. The Central City Lightning is coming into town tonight at the Gotham Royal Hotel. I bet Scarecrow will tamper with the equipment or uniforms tonight."

The stakeout took a few hours. The players got in and checked into the hotel and soon got back in the bus to probably head for dinner. I went inside undercover in civilian clothes with a cap and my utility belt hidden under my long jacket. I walked around the halls to find out where the block of all the baseball players rooms were and pretended to talk on my cell phone near a vending machine.

"Robin, suspect headed your way."

I followed the perpetrator for a little bit. "Nope. False alarm. Keep looking."

"Okay, here's another one heading your way"

After Scarecrow got off the elevator with his two henchmen I followed from a good distance. When they stopped at a door, I continued walking passed them and eventually to the stairs trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

"Batman, they are in room 782. Two henchmen are staying outside as lookouts."

"Got it."

In the stairwell I put my bag down and started putting my mask on to at least maintain the secret identity even if I didn't have on the full outfit. Afterward I put on the gas filter mask in case Scarecrow attempted to spray me with his toxin. I had trained with it extensively in preparation for facing him so it didn't bother me at all. Once Batman arrived and engaged the two henchmen standing outside, I popped out of the stairwell and attacked both from behind before they knew what hit them. We busted the door open and Scarecrow climbed out the window and was walking along a skinny ledge hoping to make it to the neighboring room.

"Stay at the window, I'll cut him off at the next room," Batman said through his own gas filter mask. As Batman ran around to the neighboring room the Scarecrow predicted Batman's next move and instead dropped down to the ledge one story below. I knew Batman was trying to keep me out of having a panic attack but I really didn't want to lose the Scarecrow. I climbed out on the ledge and immediately got a lightheaded feeling. My recently developed fear of heights kicked back in and my body started shaking. Under normal circumstances, I could climb down easily but the fear toxin still in my system was really getting to me. I was seven stories high which was common for me but it felt like a mile.

"You can do this Robin, you can do this," I kept saying to myself. Scared and with my heart pounding like crazy I took my leap of faith and hopped down to the lower ledge. Scarecrow had busted through the window and I jumped through as well to stay on his heels. As I came out of the room and guessed that he headed for the stairwell. I opened the door and looked around but couldn't find any sign of him. I started thinking that he might have remained hiding in the room or run down the hall the other way. I went to check the room he had dropped into but there was still no sign of him. I kept in touch with Batman but neither of us could find him. Afterwards Batman scouted out the front of the parking lot while I scoped out the back parking lot.

"I think I spotted him in this grey Nissan."

"Good Robin. Is he moving yet?"

"No, it's still parked."

I threw a batarang that shattered the driver's side window and opened the car door quickly. I grabbed him and pulled him out of the car and recognized immediately that he was way too light.

"He tricked me. It was a scarecrow in the car dressed as… the Scarecrow."

"Let's keep looking."

We kept looking for another few hours and finally came to the conclusion that we had let him escape. I took it to heart because I knew my slight hesitation on the ledge is what led to him being able to escape. I'm way more athletic than him and there is no way I should have allowed him to outmaneuver me in a situation like that. However, we had to take the loss. Bruce tried to reason with me.

"Robin, you did the best you could but he hit you with the toxin earlier and it affected you. You showed great heart by overcoming that fear toxin to chase him. We may have failed tonight but I'm proud of you for that. We will get him next time. Count on it."

Afterward Scarecrow gave up his scandal of fixing sports games since we had caught on to it. We didn't hear anything from him for months. It was disappointing that we missed out on Scarecrow but I couldn't dwell on that. I had to refocus on my unofficial mission since Bruce and Talia would be meeting again the following day.


End file.
